Ok so, now that we have a few new open world games I wanted to check with you all on quality.
Let’s put these three in the mix:
Elex
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Mass effect: Andromeda.
Add to that, but I don’t think – Those are the last three big ones.
Plus this is a good time to maybe start a thread on Open World games generally.
Finally, I may not be opposed to a zombie open worlder. That seems to be a separate niche.
What are you judging these on? How well the open world works in the game? How well it recreates a real-world environment? How engaging it is for the player?
Yeah I think you’re going to have to narrow it down, seems like damn near everything these days is open world something-or-other. I assume you’ve played Witcher 3, which seems to be a consensus game that everyone considers pretty much top of the heap. As for me, I find it almost too open, maybe too big. There’s a sweet spot, for me, where a world is just big enough. And I think that sweet spot is often about the size of a GTA game. By contrast, Bethesda games are usually too big. Which is not to say I don’t enjoy them, but I can tell you that each of the ones I’ve played, I’ve had to set aside for maybe six months or so before I come back to them and wrap them up. It was true of Fallout 3, Skyrim, New Vegas. I just reach a point where I have to set it down or risk total burnout. I don’t know where these “mid-range” open world games fit in, but I need to find a way to sub-sort the open worlds to the “right size” for me.
YUNOACO?!
Hmm I guess you are right. let’s say I come from the Fallout/Skyrim angle as opposed to the Witcher 3 angle. Those seem to be the primary rpg vectors.
I’ve watched a few Elex Videos and I can see that combat seems wonky, but the world is interesting.
KC:D looks like it attempts historic accuracy, but not sure about combat and etc
Mass Effect : Andromeda I own. But the consensus was disappointment. That said I eneded up enjoying DA:I quite a lot.
Finally I’ve had my eye on Dying Light.
So the parameters are open worldness, combat, rpgness, modability, and finally fun. Not in that order.
OK, I think I follow you. I haven’t played Kingdom Come, I think it looks interesting, but I too don’t know what to think about the combat. I’ll probably check it out down the road when it’s cheap. Also haven’t played Elex, it looks like a weird mashup of sci-fi and fantasy, and that irritates me. Yes, it’s a personal hangup.
I’ll tell you that while it’s true that the consensus is that Andromeda is a disappointment, I had a total blast with it. It’s got weaknesses, like it still leans a lot on fetch quests, and the aliens aren’t as interesting as I’d like them to be. But the combat is peak ME, and if you enjoyed the previous games it’s totally worth a look. Especially if you already own it.
Yeah that’s a good tip and I thank you.
Let’s add two more specs: Craft ability and perhaps the best factor: A sense of wonder.
That last spec can be as much graphical as it is attention to detail in the world itself.
A third spec: A fair sense of progression.
BTW I am also a bit hung up on Elex attempt to unite sci fi/fantasy. The post-apocalyptic theme, however, is a pull.
You may want to add Assassins creed: Origins to that list of open world games to check out. If there is one thing ubisoft does well, its World Building with capital WBs, and this is probably their crowning achievement.
The game itself is pretty awesome, but as an open world game, its wonderful, especially if you like history, as I have an inkling you do.
This really has a sense of wonder.
Dying Light is great - its a wonderful world, but its also damn scary (to me). It has a ton of atmosphere but not that much enviromental storytelling, as you’d expect.
oh- and Elder Scrolls Online has a massive, open world, with so much atmosphere and storytelling its almost too much. The gameplay itself is massively improved as well.
Raz that’s a good one to add. I was fascinated with the discovery channel-ish historical walkthrough I saw advertised. Is the combat at least somewhat forgiving?
(plus desert environments get the whole “Lawrence of Arabia” enhancement)
If you put the difficulty on “easy” you can pretty much hack your way through combat. The only thing that may give you an issue are the guys with shields which still require some timing and dodging to kill. Keep in mind that even on the easiest difficulty, enemies above your level will still trounce you.
Combat can be tricky but overall I felt it was always fair and doable.
From the three you originally listed I played Elex and MEA. While I enjoyed both tremendously I would have to give the better game to MEA. Better characters better stories better visuals, more fun combat. However in the category “things to discover” Elex absolutely wins. The world is very well realized with tons of nooks and crannies where stuff is hidden. Elex is also a pure Piranha Bytes game. If you have played any of theirs you have an idea of the level of wonk to expect.
Dying Light is great, I started replaying it yesterday and it’s even better now with all the enhancements. Even on Normal it’s quite challenging in the beginning and once I found out that I can craft a bow early on (I think it’s part of some dlc) my enjoyment went through the roof. Highly recommend it. Main character is also painfully self aware which makes for great dialogue lol.
Another game I’d throw into mix is Far Cry Primal - I didn’t care much for other Ubisoft’s Far Cry games but Primal nails what it sets out to do. Primitive weapons are a perfect fit for the stealth and traversal system, survival mode is exactly what these open world games need to keep them fresh/challenging longer (goes the same for Fallout 4) and Second chance/Permadeath modes add unprecedented levels of tension to this genre. Nothing like having dozens of hours of progress on the line as you’re stalking a dangerous beast or clearing out a large enemy camp. I found myself using every last one of the tools I had at my disposal. Excellent design overall.
And finally I’d add STALKER games. The levels are smaller but they still have all the hallmarks of an open world game. I suspect @divedivedive would like this format based on what he wrote about the size of some open world games.
edit: almost forgot - UnderRail. This may seem like an odd suggestion since it’s an isometric turn based rpg but it’s open world as it gets. Check it out if you get a chance.
I don’t recommend AC Origins. I dropped it after 10-11 hours. It’s still full of the typical AC flaws.
I like your post and would be willing to click a small heart to indicate my agreement.
Oh man, yeah RDR. Unfortunately you’d have to buy a console to play it on, assuming you don’t own one. If you do, I imagine you’ve already played RDR because you’re not crazy.
I hope that was a joke young man :(
I tried one of the Stalker games, was it called Open Sky or something like that? And it seemed interesting but a little hardcore for me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset, I’ll need to try it again.
And I’ve played a little Dying Light, two of my friends and I were playing co-op but they bailed and I just kind of stopped. Should get back into that one too I imagine.
Maybe a little one. But I am serious that everyone should play RDR, or at least maybe it’s sequel when it comes out soon.
